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Aromas of dark chocolate and blackberry, with hints of black olives. Full-bodied, with chewy, polished tannins and loads of ripe fruit, tapenade and flowers. A complex and complete wine. Still needs time. One of the best ever from here.—’88/’98 Bordeaux blind retrospective (2008). Best after 2010. 1,085 cases made.Wine Spectator | 97 WSI drank a bottle of 1998 L’Eglise Clinet Pomerol yesterday in Beverly Hills at the Italian restaurant Via Alloro with Hong Kong wine merchant Paulo Pong, who also blogs for my web site. The L’Eglise was still very young and in reserve. We decanted it before drinking, but it still was a little tight. I think it needs more bottle time. Nonetheless, it was soft and silky yet firm and gorgeous. It was full-bodied with a gorgeous core of raspberry and spices on the palate, with chocolate and mahogany notes.James Suckling | 97 JSThe Château l’Eglise-Clinet 1998 has developed an absolutely stunning bouquet: precocious, glycerin-rich red cherries, cassis, violets and minerals all beautifully defined and so intense. The palate is full-bodied with ripe tannin, layers of sweet blackberry and wild strawberry fruit intermingling with white pepper, cumin, black truffle and tar. There is a crescendo towards the finish that just fans out across the mouth. After 17 years (which makes me feel old, as I remember tasting it from barrel), it is a Pomerol that will take on all comers in the appellation with the exception of the 1998 Petrus. It will give 40-50 years worth of drinking pleasure. Tasted March 2015.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 96 RP-NMThe 1998 l’Eglise-Clinet was picked 21 to 26 September. This formed my introduction to the property and I still remember the impact of tasting this vintage from barrel. Durantou opened three bottles as the first two showed a little TCA. It has a wonderful bouquet that is fragrant and pure: redcurrant, cranberry, a touch of kirsch, hints of marmalade and orange rind. It captures Pomerol at its most opulent without excess. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, dense black fruit laced with truffle with a very complex, mineral-driven, truffle and morels infused finish that lingers long in the mouth. Tasted at the l’Eglise-Clinet vertical at the château in April 2018.Vinous Media | 95 VMAs I shared with the attendees to the tasting, I had been a big fan of Chateau l’Église-Clinet back in the 1980s and had bought and happily drunk cases of both the 1985 and 1986 here. However, by the time I started covering En Primeur campaigns with the 2009 vintage, the style at the property had gotten more overtly modern and the quality had slipped in my opinion. So, I was very curious to taste the 1998, which had never crossed my path previously, to see if the more modern house style was already well ensconced here by 1998. Sadly, this seems to have been the case. The wine is still nicely flamboyant on the nose, jumping from the glass in a mix of plums, black raspberries, a bit of tariness, chocolate, violets, a modicum of soil tones and spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and fairly extracted in style, with a fair bit of well-integrated tannins, good focus and grip and a long, fairly four-square finish. This is solid, respectable example of 1998, but it is not materially better than wines such as Pavie-Macquin or La Dominique, despite being far pricier and having loftier ambitions. (Drink between 2030-2070)John Gilman | 90 JG

The incredible succulent power in Ausone puts a different perspective on other wines, as it so often does. The epitome of perfumed finesse. The yield is up at 40hl/ha, high for these poor limestone soils, and the remarkable clarity of expression that runs right through the delicate but fleshy raspberry and smoke-tinged palate is helped by a pH of 3.5 (compared to 3.6 last year). In my book this counts as one of the truly exciting signatures of the vintage and that is only boosted by the limestone terroir. Stunning, with enormous persistency and a finish that just doesn’t want to quit. From a blend of 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc, aged in 80% new oak barrels. 98-100 points. Drinking window 2027 - 2050.Decanter | 99 DECTwo bottles were badly corked, which is certainly a scary situation for a wine where only 1,000 or so cases were produced. However, a third bottle was magical and just short of perfection. Its saturated purple color was followed by a surprisingly more evolved and open wine than I had written in my tasting note in 2003, where I predicted maturity between 2020 and 2075. This wine displays wonderful, sweet tannin and a big, sweet kiss of truffle, crushed rock, blueberry, blackberry, and licorice. Extremely rich, full-bodied, with astonishing power, precision, and delicacy, this is a sumptuous wine that should age well for 50-60 years, but in the case of the one bottle out of three that was not corked, it seemed far more evolved and forward than I suggested in my write-up in 2003.Robert Parker | 98+ RPForget all those garage wines, forget the upstarts of Saint-Emilion. When you want real class, you have to turn to Ausone. What a wine - magnificently dense and opaque, hugely rich and sensual. Yet it doesn’t seem in the least decadent - for deep inside the wine is a huge backbone of ripe tannins. Keep for at least 10 years.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEThe 2000 Ausone was tasted on no less than three occasions during March 2015, once with Pauline and Alain Vauthier. It is a great millennial Saint-Émilion with intense blackberry and cassis fruit laced with cedar and violets. Less opulent than it showed in its youth, it is a perfect marriage of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The palate even at 15 years of age is quite backward and you could argue, rather glossy. Yet there is poise here that lingers in the mouth with a brilliant mineral-driven finish. It is an Ausone that will give five or six decades of drinking pleasure but will certainly repay the more patient. Tasted at a private dinner in Bordeaux.Vinous Media | 97 VMThis is like a perfectly cut piece of silk fabric. Every angle is just right, every texture great. Fabulous aromas of tobacco, mineral and cool berry fruit. Full-bodied, with loads of silky tannins and a length that goes on and on. Very racy. Very sexy. Best wine I have ever had from this estate. Best after 2010.Wine Spectator | 97 WSNo written review provided. | 96 W&S

The nose on this already suggests a deep and contemplative wine with blackberry, dried flowers and sweet berries. Evolves to black olive and hints of asphalt. Full-bodied, with supersilky tannins and tangy, rich fruit. It really grabs hold of you and wants to tell you it’s special. Loads of ripe tannins too. Big and structured. Turns to tapenade.Wine Spectator | 97-100 WSProprietor Denis Durantou has produced a blockbuster Pomerol from a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, tipping the scales at just over 14.5% natural alcohol. A riveting wine, pure, elegant, but at the same time, extremely powerful and concentrated, with stunning texture, opulence and density, the tannins are abundant, and the wine certainly in need of a decade of cellaring. Fabulous creme de cassis and cherry liqueur notes are intertwined with hints of licorice, truffle, and graphite. Full and rich, but still in an infantile state of development, this wine needs to be cellared for 10 years but should keep for five decades or more. This 2009 is absolutely profound.Robert Parker | 99+ RPThe 2009 l’Eglise-Clinet was picked 14 to 28 September and matured in 80% new oak. It remains remarkably youthful on the nose, rendering the brilliant 2010 a bit introverted by comparison. This comes racing out of the blocks with ebullient red cherries, crushed strawberry and raspberry fruit, touches of dried rose petal and melted tar. With aeration there is just a touch of liquorish. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin that belies the arching structure underneath. It manages to retain awesome power and yet deliver a refined finish that feels long and tender. Stunning. Tasted at the l’Eglise-Clinet vertical at the château in April 2018.Vinous Media | 97 VMAromas of dark fruits, hazelnut and dark chocolate, follow through to a full body, with velvety tannins that are polished and refined. Beautiful depth of fruit to this. Best in 2018.James Suckling | 96 JS

The wine boasts 14.6% natural alcohol and is a final blend of roughly three-fourths Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, cropped at a ridiculously low 19 hectoliters per hectare. Notes of licorice, garrigue, incense, smoked meats, espresso, creme de cassis and blackberry liqueur jump from the glass of this unbelievably intense wine. Remarkably full, with compelling freshness and precision, this is a fabulous effort in 2010. It will probably close down over the next several years, and not re-emerge for at least a decade, something that often happens with the bigger, richer, more muscular St.-Emilions from the limestone hillsides and plateaux. This is one of the superstars of the vintage and a profound wine. Drink it between 2020 and 2045.Robert Parker | 98+ RPOne of the highlights in this tasting, the 2010 Larcis Ducasse is simply stunning. Although quite fresh, vibrant and intense, the 2010 is also very closed in on itself. Violet, lavender, graphite and menthol are some of the many notes that give the 2010 its energy and tension. Still very much closed, the 2010 is going to need a good few years to come into its own. Still, it is pretty impressive today. With time in the glass, the 2010 gives a very good idea of what is to come for those who can wait.Antonio Galloni | 97+ AGWow. This is really intense with amazing dark fruit character of crushed blueberries and minerals. It’s full-bodied, with super integrated tannins and a superb finish that lasts for minutes. A fabulous wine. Better in 2019.James Suckling | 97 JSThe Left Bank character of this St Emilion wine is on full display. Concentration and depth, liquorice root and dark bitter chocolate. This is intense and the tannins remain just a little impenetrable. An impressive wine that speaks of its terroir and is packed with estate signature. Will age extremely well (I enjoyed a 100 year old wine from Larcis Ducasse in 2019, and wouldn’t bet against this one making the grade). 60% new oak. Drinking Window 2020 - 2045.Decanter | 94 DECThis seems complete, with intense, vibrant currant preserves, blackberry coulis and dark cherry fruit seamlessly layered with graphite and melted red licorice notes. Dense, with lovely definition, offering black tea, toasted alder and ganache notes that fill and expand on the finish. Shows great length and drive.—Larcis Ducasse non-blind vertical (December 2012). Best from 2018 through 2030.Wine Spectator | 94 WS89-91 Firmly structured, while also boosted with sweet, smoky fruits and ripe tannins. The wine has style more than power, and the juicy berry fruits give it acidity and a fresh after taste.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WE